Is Easter Parade the best technicolour musical?! Rewatching the 1948 film is an annual tradition during this time of year for many musical and fashion lovers! As always, we’re here to talk about the costumes!
Irene Maud Lentz designed the women’s costumes and Fred Arlington Valles did the men’s. As the film’s characters enjoy Easter celebrations, they are dressed in shades of pastels with their heads adorned with floral creations of all shapes and sizes. The costumes reflect the optimism of the Springtime season at a time when dressing up for every holiday was celebrated!
The film opens with a fashion show as Don (Fred Astaire) searches for a gift for Nadine (Ann Miller) to wear to the Easter Parade. So, we’re getting treated right from the get go!
When Judy Garland first appears as Hannah, she and the other chorus girls are wearing dresses previously seen on Lucille Ball’s backup dancers in Easy to Wed (1946). The same dress shows up again in another Garland movie- Summer Stock (1950).
AND In a deleted scene, Judy is wearing her famous tuxedo jacket and stockings which she then wore in Summer Stock right after making Easter Parade.
Don then takes Hannah shopping for clothes. The whole movie is a fashion lovers dream! There’s even a segment near the end in which women are posing for giant fashion magazine covers.
The ostrich gown Hannah wears for her first performance with Don is a parody of a gown worn by Ginger Rogers when she starred with Fred Astaire in Top Hat (1935), with the ostrich feathers having driven Astaire crazy!
A bunch of dresses from The Harvey Girls (1946) show up on the extras during “Steppin out with my Baby”.
Garland’s wardrobe evolves throughout the film along with her character. In one of her most memorable ensembles at the end of the movie, she wears an ivory silk knit dress with a huge hat and pink gloves. THE classic Easter outfit!
Scott Headley (@ScottHedley03 and @judygarlandexhibit on Instagram) acquired this dress at auction a number of years ago but in terrible condition. He sent it to the Textile Conservation Laboratory at St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York (@stjohndivinenyc) to bring it back to life in 2020. They cleaned the dress and removed much of the staining but I don't know if they carried out any additional restorative work on the piece.
Christie’s sold her green velvet dress at auction for $7,000USD in 2006.
Astaire wore a series of well tailored suits with his usual sophistication, helping to highlight his graceful dance moves.
Easter Parade continues to inspire today, with images of Judy and Fred from the film popping up when you type in “Easter fashion” to Pinterest or Instagram.
We shared some of our 1950s Spring hats earlier this week on Instagram, which would fit right into the Easter Parade aesthetic!
Wishing everyone a fashionable Easter Holiday!